Event Title

Presenter Information

Location

Duke Law School

Start Date

15-2-1980 10:30 AM

End Date

15-2-1980 11:30 AM

Description

This Article will examine the validity of the District of Columbia Circuit's approach to ex parte communications in off-the-record proceedings. It begins with a theoretical discussion of the compatability of ex parte communications with the judicial and legislative models of decisionmaking that underlie the administrative system. The Article argues that although a judicial model of decisionmaking requires the prohibition of ex parte communications, this model should rarely be applied to off-the-record agency proceedings due to the distinctive purposes of administrative action. Following this overview of the problem, the Article reviews the court's changing approach to ex parte communications in off-the-record proceedings, identifying the analytical themes and distinctions that have been relied upon by the court to determine the resolution of particular cases.

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This Article will examine the validity of the District of Columbia Circuit's approach to ex parte communications in off-the-record proceedings. It begins with a theoretical discussion of the compatability of ex parte communications with the judicial and legislative models of decisionmaking that underlie the administrative system. The Article argues that although a judicial model of decisionmaking requires the prohibition of ex parte communications, this model should rarely be applied to off-the-record agency proceedings due to the distinctive purposes of administrative action. Following this overview of the problem, the Article reviews the court's changing approach to ex parte communications in off-the-record proceedings, identifying the analytical themes and distinctions that have been relied upon by the court to determine the resolution of particular cases.